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June 29, 2004

Did I mention that I am going to Pittsburgh tomorrow? I suspect that I have not. Well, I am. Going I mean. After work, Dan and I are driving to scenic Bloomsburg, PA, which is about halfway, then getting to the storied hometown of Amber Brkich (that link is pretty funny, actually, because the historical society mentioned is one my dad is real involved in, and like, I don't know, it makes it sound like the place has more than one room, and also that it has a firefighting exhibit, neither of which it does -- heh), which also happens to be my storied hometown. We will be in the city of Pittsburgh a lot, of course, so I can see Mr. Mark and this wife he allegedly has (I have recently found out that she was my rival for his affections circa 1994!), and maybe I will stalk Ms. Jilly!

So it will be radio silence for a little while because my parents weirdly refuse to have touch-tone service on their phone line. My dad found out that they charge a few cents for it back in the 80s, and he has refused ever since. So the laptop is useless without, you know, technology last considered new in 1978.

Then, as soon as I get home from Pennsylvania -- or Pennsyltucky, as Mr. Pink semi-fondly calls it -- it's off to NYC for the Brandee-Steph (hopefully)-TJ-Rye martinithon!

And this whole "chop their hands/heads off" philosophy from the new Iraqi defense minister is, uhm, maybe not so promising-sounding, is it? Meanwhile, in the liberated democratic beacon of Afghanistan -- hideous chaos! Fuck.

Miscellaneous items: To completely geek out for a sec: the new Harry Potter title has been announced! David Sedaris charms on tour, it seems, as always. Also via Gawker -- meta-porn with Paris. For you Berkshires locals, the "One Night in Paris" dvd is available for purchase at the Berkshires' local porn store across from Guido's! I know because they have a giant glowing sign proclaiming it to be so! And you can pick up some organic peaches and grass-fed beef at Guido's on your way home to masturbate!

OK, so have fun, be safe, don't stick any fireworks in any body cavities you value, etc. I will miss you! Now I have to go finish cleaning in anticipation of our houseitters looking underneath the bed or something!

June 28, 2004

I have been lax in knitting updates, so! My sad, sorry ass missed the Afghans for Afghans deadline because I became hypnotized with my own skill and speed. I kept fantasizing about an overflowing box of perfect mittens and hats, each made from some bit of stash-yarn and whatever else I could find...I kept imagining the nice little Quakers opening the box and exclaiming to others, "My, what skill in simplicty!" Ah, vanity -- it is continuously my downfall, even when I have noble intentions. And, of course, instead of learning my lesson from this and packing up that box of damned knitty goodness (tainted with a patina of hubris, of course), I got all involved with the idea of slip-stitching up a hat (thanks to a book picked up on a whim recently), and now that's spun a bit out of control into maybe a kid sweater and...fucking-A. I suck at charity!

So, obviously, I went to see Farenheit 9/11 this weekend. At the midnight movie in Albany on Friday, actually, because there were no tickets available for it, like, at all, anywhere or any time other than the midnight movie, and by 6pm on Friday, many of the Saturday shows were already sold out. Which is a good sign! (More good signs found here.) Do I need to go into the fact that it was amazingly important, and if you don't see it, you get the official hairy eyeball from me? Yeah, I didn't think so.

What I thought was interesting in particular was the crowd. Albany is a small city -- I believe just under 100,000 -- and there were two theaters in town showing it. Both theaters were fairly large, especially the one we went to, with the stadium seating and whatnot. When we wandered back into the mall to see the movie around 11:45 pm, we were shocked to find a line of people several hundred deep already waiting to be seated, though the screening wasn't scheduled to start until 12:20 am. The line of people was highly diverse (which I did not expect) and people were talking to each other, some sorta riot nrrd types were singing songs, people were passing around voter registration forms...and during the film, there was laughter, gasps of shock, open weeping and thunderous applause. It was pretty amazing, actually, and I am glad we stuck it out, fuelled by enormous amounts of coffee, and stayed awake to watch it with the fine folks. It was just...cool to see something so important with people who actually seemed to give a shit.

Oh, I haven't even anything smarmy to say, I am just feeling...you know, I think they call it "optimistic"!

June 24, 2004

I don't want to speak too soon, but a rumor is going around that there will be a 75%-complete reunion of my bridal party in NYC in just a few weeks. I spoke with a certain girl from Ohio this evening and it looks promising! Holy shit, I am about to just die of happiness, this could not be more potentially fabulous.

Been feeling musically nostalgic lately. Maybe the cancellation of goddamned Lollapalooza (uhm, is anyone from that tour going to go it solo this summer?) has got me feeling like there's nothing I am interested so much as old-ass indie rock. Yesterday I dug out "Bee Thousand" and listened to it over and over. When is some art this good going to happen again, people? Sigh. I really am getting old, aren't I? Lord, pass me the botox, would you?

June 23, 2004

And. Being as sweet as I am (ahem), I get a lot of insect bites. Today I discovered one, obtained last evening while beer-drinking and chain-smoking while chatting with Ms. Erin on my back porch. It is in the worst of all places possible -- the Not-Ass. That is to say, near the ass, but really at the very top of my thigh, directly across the ass-border. This is the worst area to have a bug bite, because even though any reasonable person would agree that this is most certainly not ass terrotory, scratching it in public is just not okay. And today, all the crazy itchiness was exacerbated by my unwise choice of undergarments. You see, today was the day I wore my "To His Coy Mistress" underthings -- they are lacy and sexy in a way that seems sort of antiquated, which ordinarily I find rather charming. And being cut the way that they are, and with the whole lace issue, not to mention the posture demanded to wear very high heels all day long, the lace kept triggering the itchiness. I was tortured by the desire to vigrously scratch my Not-Ass all day long. Jesus, what a trial!

Today's the day, at least for New Yorkers. Farenheit 9/11 opens, with all the requistive crazy dark forces milling about, frankly rather ineptly. (To those on the left interested in making hay from pop culture, perhaps you have not yet heard about Move On's house parties post-movie-viewing?)

P.S. I found Hitch's review to be completely borderline-unreadable, not because it's negative, but because it makes no sense. Of course, for the record, he still sort of completely does it for me, in an intellectual contrarian way. (Isn't that disturbing? I swear, it's a disease.)

June 22, 2004

Here's something, though, that did make me smile: I am not the only girl on the block who fancies Keith Olbermann! Although, ick, who would ever call Sean Hannity sexy? I have never seen a man more in need of a collagen injection in my life!

I don't know that this is very funny -- actually, it strikes me that perhaps it doesn't quite get to "satire" as it's rather facile and flirts with meanness, but maybe I am just a hideous she-bitch who hates everything -- but here. It's the best of this week's leads from a Western Mass-based wanna-be The Onion. Whatever humor it has is likely to be lost on people who don't know intimately the barely-hidden atmosphere of resentment and class warfare in Northampton, I guess. I do give points for effort, though!

In news of the world...Well, this can't be good! And, despite the lack of coverage in this country, I frankly think this bodes quite poorly as well. Let's say that I was underwhelmed by the world's least apologetic resignation last night. What do y'all think of these new Bush campaign commercials who basically argue that one should not vote for Kerry because he is, like, a total downer? Because, uhm, is that a proven political tactic? Whoa, holy shit, was Jon Stewart rad on "The Daily Show" last night, with mediocre-at-best intellect, Stephen Hayes. Probably some of the most vigorous interviewing I have seen yet in 2004, which, when you think about it, is pretty pathetic for a comedy show to hold that distinction.